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Participate in Military Saves Week to 'Build wealth, not debt!'

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Bekah Phy
  • 305th Air Mobility Wing public affairs
McGUIRE AIR FORCE BASE, N.J. --  With the current economic situation, times can be tough. In an effort to help servicemembers and their families "Build wealth, not debt," McGuire's Airman and Family Readiness Center staff is encouraging everyone to participate in Military Saves Week. 

"Military Saves Week, Feb. 22 through March 1, is a week of focus on taking financial action and making a commitment to save money," said Betsy Vicari, A&FRC community readiness consultant. "With the current financial crisis, everyone should be looking at their spending habits and recognizing how they can make positive changes." 

Ms. Vicari explained how important it is to save money, especially as military members.
"Military members are put in unique situations with PCSing, deployments, and going on remotes and running two separate households," she said. "If you're not financially ready, you're not mission-ready and your chance of losing focus increases." 

Servicemembers are encouraged to visit www.militarysaves.org to take the Military Saves Pledge. Ms. Vicari said in addition to the pledge, take action - complete a budget, open a savings account and make regular deposits through an allotment, open a Thrift Savings Plan account, research an IRA - do anything to get involved with saving. 

The A&FRC, along with Fort Dix Army Community Service and Navy Fleet and Family Service, can assist servicemembers with a wide range of financial services, including debt counseling, basic investing, foreclosure avoidance, consumer affairs, budgeting, emergency financial assistance, and more. 

During Military Saves Week, a Financial Resource Fair will be held Feb. 27, 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., at the Fort Dix Timmermann Center. Fifteen financial resource agencies will be available to answer questions and two-hour seminars will be presented on credit, debt management, basic investing, and investment scams and foreclosure avoidance. Seminars will be offered from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. 

The credit seminar will be hosted by Scott Dingwall from Consumer Credit Counseling Service. He will explain why credit is so important and offer tips on how to improve/maintain good credit. Michael Whritenour, 305th Security Forces Squadron personnel security manager, will also be available to discuss how personal finances can affect military member's security clearances. 

In a nutshell, credit is an agreement in which a borrower receives something of value in exchange for a promise to repay the lender at a later date, Mr. Dingwall said. Each person has a credit score, also known as a "risk score." This score helps lenders determine what the likelihood is that a borrower will repay on time, which is why credit is so important, he said. 

"Credit will determine an interest rate a lender sets for you, credit histories are used by landlords to grant leases, insurance companies use credit scores for car insurance and mortgage companies use scores to determine qualification of mortgages," Mr. Dingwall said. 

To keep credit in good standing, Mr. Dingwall recommends paying bills on time, keeping balances below 50 percent of the limit and keeping accounts open. He also encourages everyone to check their credit report at least once a year, which can be done for free through www.annualcreditreport.com.  

Many servicemembers may not know, but poor credit can put their security clearances (among other things) at risk, Mr. Whritenour said. "Across the Air Force in 2007, the Air Force Central Adjudication Agency denied or revoked the clearance eligibility of approximately 2700 personnel; 36 percent of the adverse decisions were due to financial issues," he said. 

Mr. Whritenour explained during the adjudication process (the evaluation of the background investigation to determine whether or not a person meets the eligibility requirements for a security clearance,) the adjudicator follows the "whole person" concept and looks for patterns of irresponsibility. An individual who is financially overextended is initially assumed to be at risk to engage in illegal acts to generate funds. 

"For financial concerns, there are five items or conditions that could potentially disqualify a person from obtaining a clearance. There are six items or factors which are used to mitigate any disqualifying factor," Mr. Whritenour said. "The largest disqualifying factor is a history of not meeting financial obligations. The best factor to mitigate the previous is if the subject made a good faith effort to repay/repair the adverse credit." 

Mr. Whritenour will go into greater detail during the credit seminar, including how to repay debt, how the person can be proactive and what type of financial documentation is looked at during the investigation and adjudication process. 

For more information, call the A&FRC at (609) 754-3154, ACS at (609) 562-2767 or Lakehurst at (732) 323-1249.